Venture Global (NYSE:VG) COO Brian Cothran Sells 473,533 Shares

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) COO Brian Cothran sold 473,533 shares of Venture Global stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.81, for a total value of $7,013,023.73. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Brian Cothran also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, May 20th, Brian Cothran sold 120,623 shares of Venture Global stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.55, for a total value of $1,755,064.65.
• On Thursday, May 21st, Brian Cothran sold 31,910 shares of Venture Global stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.33, for a total value of $457,270.30.

Venture Global Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VG traded down $0.45 during trading on Thursday, reaching $13.58. The stock had a trading volume of 17,748,643 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,926,365. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.40, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.87. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $13.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.13. The stock has a market cap of $33.36 billion, a PE ratio of 15.08, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.44. Venture Global, Inc. has a 1-year low of $5.72 and a 1-year high of $19.50.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter. Venture Global had a return on equity of 26.90% and a net margin of 16.94%.The firm’s revenue was up 58.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Venture Global, Inc. will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Venture Global Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a $0.018 dividend. This is a boost from Venture Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. This represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. Venture Global’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Venture Global

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new stake in Venture Global in the second quarter valued at $26,000. MAI Capital Management purchased a new stake in Venture Global in the third quarter valued at $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Venture Global by 161.2% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,820 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Venture Global by 1,750.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in Venture Global in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on VG. Wall Street Zen raised Venture Global from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 22nd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Venture Global from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Weiss Ratings raised Venture Global from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Venture Global from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Venture Global from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Venture Global has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.47.

About Venture Global

Venture Global (NYSE: VG) is a Houston-based energy company that develops, constructs and operates large-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities in the United States. The company focuses on converting domestically produced natural gas into LNG for shipment to international markets, positioning itself as a supplier of pipeline-quality gas in vessel-ready form for global customers.

Venture Global’s core activities include site development, engineering and construction of liquefaction and export terminals, commissioning and ongoing operations of those facilities, and commercial marketing of LNG under both long-term and short-term contracts.